But Who's Counting?

Chapter Eight

As the weeks passed, Alexander and I's relationship got better. Although he had work often, he always popped in to check on me and our.. babies.

I also began to watch Maya a little, since she would beg Alexander to come to my house. I decided to let her. It was really only once a week, a day where her nanny didn't work. 

Whenever she came over, we would talk, play, nap, eat, and watch a movie. Today, we walked to the pet store and Maya got to hold the baby rabbits and play with the puppies. She was so estatic about playing with them that she insisted she was going to go home and beg her father to bring her back so she could get one. Of course, I wasn't going to buy her a pet without Alexander's permission, but I did decide to take down a Christmas list from her.

Christmas was two weeks away and I had nothing to do in my spare time, so why not shop for gifts?

"My dad is coming?" Maya asked as I zipped her coat. She pulled the hat over her head before stepping back, watching me nod.

"Yeah, he's on his way."

"When I get home, I'm going to ask Daddy if we can watch Tangled." She said, smiling. We had watched tangled earlier after we came back from the pet store. Maya was absolutely in love with Flynn Rider and Rapunzel; which surprised me since she had seen practically every other Disney Princess movie.

"Already? You just watched it."

"But daddy loves princess movies. We watch them all the time. Now I have to see if he has watched this one." She explained before leaning against the wall. I laughed before walking towards my kitchen. I carried the small dish that we had grapes in and placed it in my sink. I decided I was going to tidy up a bit before Alex got here. I threw away any loose trash and put the bag of grapes away. As three heavy knocks hit the front door, I instructed Maya to open it.

"That must be your father. Go ahead and open the door." I said, not realizing that Alexander didn't have a key to my building. He would have to ring the buzzer before being able to come in.

"Wai-" I exclaimed, hearing the door open and the buzzer go off at the same time. I entered the living room, hitting the button and then glancing towards the door. David walked in with a beanie on his head and two boxes of pizza in his hands. He greeted Maya before placing the boxes on the table.

"You're starting to look pregnant." He said, reaching in for a quick hug. "Thanks" I mumbled, patting his back. I walked towards the door and looked down the hall. Alexander was already walking up with his work suit on. His dark hair had small specks of what I can only infer are snowflakes from the outside New York weather.

"Maya, Alex is down the hall."

"Wait, I want to stay."

"We went over this. David, can you grab sprite out the fridge please?" I asked. He smiled before retreating into my kitchen.

"If he's here I want to be here to."

"Hey Sophia. Hey baby." Alexander's y'all figure stood in the threshold. He slightly shook his head before smiling at us. I waved at him as he came closer: he pulled me into a side hug and then swung Maya up to his hip. She clutched onto him with a frown.

"Hi daddy. Can we stay a little bit?"

"No, Aunt Madison's birthday party is today."

"I don't like her though, I want to stay with Sophia."

I kind of tuned out Alexander and Maya's conversation out as David walked out the kitchen with a sprite in his hand. He placed it on the table before gesturing behind me. "Who's that?" He whispered.

"I'm Alex."

"He's the guy I was telling you about."

"So you talk about me."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I snapped, as he gazed at David curiously. His eyes fixated on me before he decided to speak further. "This is David?" He asked me. I nodded while looking at Maya instead of him.

David steppes up, offering his hand. Alexander secured Maya before shaking David's hand firmly. David turned around and Alexander's eyes bore into the back of his head.

"What time is Crissy coming?"

"She's stuck in traffic."

"That's the one thing I hate about bein here. You're faster on foot than you are in a car!" He cried before exiting into the kitchen.

I told you that David, Crissy and I had gotten close.

"Why is he here?"

"We are just hanging out. Now, don't you have a birthday party to go to?" I asked, a hand on my hip.

"I want to know how my baby mother is."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Are you done here?"

"I guess. Call me." He said, grumpily to himself. I watched his retreating figure leave with Maya as David reentered the room. "Crissy gonna be late?" He asked, not mentioning what just happened with Alexander.

"Probably." I laughed, as we both sat on the couch and decided to start eating without Crissy.

-

"He seems nice?"

"Nice?" I laughed, touching my stomach subconsciously. David, Crissy (Who finally came, only two hours late), and I talked about Alexander as David told her about the staredown the two had.

"I know. Alex is weird." Crissy mumbled.

"Aren't you dating his cousin?" David quipped, looking at Crissy with amused eyes.

"We aren't dating... Chance doesn't 'date'. He just.. talks." Criusty shuddered, whining a bit.

"Understandable." David said. He was a guy, after all.

I heard my phone ringing from the kitchen, so I politely excused myself before heading over there. By the time I got to my phone, whoever called was calling again. I saw 'Alexander P.' written across the screen and answered.

"Hello?" I wondered what he was calling for. Usually he called in the morning.

"Hey. Sorry. Can you drop off Maya's doll tomorrow? She said she dropped it at the door." He sounded frantic, so I peeked my head across the threshold, seeing the doll at the door. I made a mental note to pick it up when I'm done.

"I can. What time?"

"Well, our nanny has her tomorrow but she works at my place. You can just drop it off at 10? I go to work at 7 so unless you would like to come early?"

"No no. That's fine. I can drop it off around 10."

"Okay, great. You're a life saver. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The line disconnected and I slipped my phone into my pocket. I walked out to the living room, seeing Crissy shove the last piece of cold pizza into her mouth. They both stared at the tv intently as Kim Kardashian-West played fast money on Celebrity Family Fued.

I found my way back to my spot as she finished and Kanye West walked out.

"Was that your baby daddy?" David asked, still staring at the tv.

"Yes. He wants me to swing by his place and deliver a toy for his daughter."

"Or he wants to make one.@

"I'm not sure if you know how this works but, I'm already pregnant."

"Still."

"Still shut up."

-

Eventually David and Crissy went home. I threw away the pizza boxes and the twenty water bottles David had some how went through in the 4 hours he had been at my house.

I tidied up more and then showered. After showering and getting dressed, I had grabbed Maya's doll and put it on my side dresser so I remember to swing by their place.

Now, I was throwing on a clean outfit and getting ready to swing by his place and then go grocery shopping. I threw the doll in my bag and grabbed my car keys.

I should probably eat before I go, or I can pick up something on the way.

Hmm.

I think I'll eat something here first. I make my way to the kitchen, grabbing the first thing I see, which is a mango. I rinse it and take a bite while reaching for a water bottle. My fridge was mostly empty, except for the left over Sprite and single water bottle I had left. I tucked the water bottle under my arm and closed the fridge door.

Am I ready to leave now? Yes.

I make my way to the front door and open it, looking down the empty hallway. I close and lock the door and shortly I am on my way to Alexander's home.

-

I quickly hit the buzzer to Alexander home, hoping the nanny knows I'm coming. When no one answered, I rung it again. No one answered still. Deciding to call Alex, I pulled my phone out. He answer almost as fast as I took me to ring him.

"Hey Sophia. How are you? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine. Hey, I'm at your building but I'm not gettin buzzed in. Are they here?"

"Yes. She didn't tell me of any plans to take maya out." He's voices was laced with confusion. Just as I began to open my mouth, the small muzzling filled the small room which alerted me that someone was ringing someone in. I pulled open the door, telling Alex I was in.

"Okay, good. Remember call me if you need anything." He hung up afterwards. I made my way to the elevator. Someone was coming out as I was coming in so I didn't have to wait. I pushed the button that went to Alexander's floor and toyed with my keys as the cart rose.

Christmas was nearing and I wondered whether or not I should get Alexander anything. I mean, we wouldn't be talking to each other if I wasn't pregnant and we weren't that close. We were just barely friends. If I was to get him something, what would it be?

What do you get the man that has everything?

Maybe I'll get him some condoms so the next girl he has s*x with doesn't get pregnant with twins.

Maya, maybe she'd like a new doll. I'll ask when I see her shortly.

The cart stopped, allowing me to exist into the small hallway the led to Alexander's home. I knocked on the front door, waiting patiently this time for it to open. Not even a minute later, the door sung open. I was looking up, expecting the nanny (whose name I still dont know) to answer, But was faced with no one. When I looked down, I saw Maya standing at the door.

She had on her pajamas and her hair was wild. In her hand she held a half eaten sandwich.

"Sorry I didn't buzz you in." She said, stepping back and allowing me to enter. I nodded, full of confusion. Where was the nanny? The apartment was dead silent, the only thing you could hear was Maya and I's breathing.

I looked around, seeing Maya climb onto a chair. 

She sat directly underneath where the buzzer is. I sat on the couch and slung off my book bag. I grabbed her toy before shaking it slightly.

"I brought your doll." I started the conversation, while still searching for the nanny.

"Thank you! I almost cried when I realized I didn't have it."

"You're welcome. So, where's your nanny?" I decided to ask now versus later. It appeared she was home alone and I didn't want to leave if she was.

"Oh, she left." She shrugged this off, looking towards her doll

What?

"She left?" I quipped, surprised.

"Yeah, she always leaves when I have breakfast."

"Where'd she go?" I asked, noseyly.

"Probably to her other job. She said she's a stripper. I don't know what that means but she says she makes a lot of money."

"How long has she been gone?"

"Only since 8." Maya said, nonchalant. It was 11:45 now.

"Does she always do this?"

"Yeah..? Why?" She didn't see anything wrong with this.

"Does your dad know?" I asked. She looked at me with a small grin.

"Yeah, She said she told him." She exclaims, taking s bite of her sandwich. She put the sandwich down and reached for a bottle of ginger ale she had.

"So you just stay home alone everyday?" I asked, confused. Alex hires a nanny and then lets the nanny leave so Maya could be home alone all day? No way.

"Yeah. She comes back before daddy comes back." She finished her sandwich and stood, running towards the kitchen and throwing away her trash assumingly.

"Okay. I'm going to stay here with you, deal?"

"Of course! I hate being by myself but Nicole said I just need to get used to it." She said, grabbing her doll and running to the couch.

Grocery shopping can wait a couple hours.

Maya smiled brightly, which was a smile that i could only return since hers are so contagious.

"So... what do you want for Christmas?"

-

After spending majority of the day with Maya, her nanny decided to make an appearance at 5:30 in the afternoon. She walked in with her purse under her arm and a slight smile on her face — until she turned around seeing Maya and I on the couch.

"Excuse me.. who are you?"

"I'm Sophia."

"She has my baby sister in her. Remember what I told you?"

"Oh." She said nervously. I decided to not address that fact that she had intentions to leave Maya home alone for nearly ten hours. She set her bang down before asking what Maya wanted for dinner.

"Not hungry. Did you make a lot of money?" Maya asked. Nicole avoided the question. She sat on the chair that Maya sat in earlier, fidgeting. We all, well Maya and I, peacefully watched Sesame Street.

I could tell Nicole was nervous that she had been caught. She was playing with her fingers and stole glances at me every so often. She would pull at one of the strands of her long blonde hair and draw her lip into her mouth. I wanted to see if she would crack under pressure and tell Alexander herself.

Fifteen minutes had passed when Alexander walked through the front door. He was shaking out his hair and hung his coat on the small rack that stayed next to the door. He put his keys inside on of the small bowls at the top of the rack while we all watched him. He hadn't noticed us yet. He was also talking to himself. I soon realized that he had a Bluetooth in.

"Okay, well I'm just getting home so I'll see. I love you. Okay Mom. Bye." He exasperated before turning around, seeing the three of us.

Maya sat next to me with her baby doll, twirling it around and cooing noises at it.

Nicole sat in the same position but this time, her back was straighter. She still played with her hair, now wrapping it around her forefinger.

I, on the other hand, did nothing but watch Alexander. His confused expression was cute.

"Hey... why are you still here?" He asked, looking between the three of us. Now, I didn't want to single Nicole out but I also didn't want Maya to be home alone for 10 hours daily.

"She didn't want me to be alone." Maya answers for me without her batting a lash.

"What do you mean alone?" He asked, looking from me to Nicole who was deadly silent. He sighed before asking Maya to explain further.

"It's only because when you let Nicole go to her stripper job, Sophia had came and saw I was alone. So, she stayed and we talked about Christmas. I told her I wanted a new baby doll, a puppy, and a iPad or new iPod." Maya said calmly and Nicole started to shake.

"I didn't let Nicole go to a new stripper job, so what are you talking about Maya?"

"Well, that's what Nicole said."

"How long was she gone?"

"Not long." Nicole spit out, standing.

"She wasn't here when you got here?"

"No." I said, paying attention to the TV. I didn't want to get this girl in trouble but, it's too late.

"When did she get back?"

"Like right before you did." Maya said, finally looking up. Alexander was red, ready to explode.

"Nicole! I don't pay you 3,000 dollars a week for you to leave my child home alone. What if Sophia hadn't came? She would have just been home alon-"

"But I'm always home alone so what's the problem?" Maya was unknowningly adding fuel to the fire. 

"How often?"

"Everyday." Nicole mumbled.

Woah woah woah. Rewind. Did Alexander say he pays her 3,000 a week? Shoot, I'll be Maya's nanny. That's a lot of money. You're making 144,000 a year just to watch a child from 7 to 5. That's a lot of money.

"Give me your key. Now you can go full time as a stripper. Please exit my house. Happy holidays." Alexander dismisses the ex-nanny with a scowl. She coughs up the key and grabs her stuff and leaves with no argument. 

Getting fired two weeks before Christmas was not fun, by the looks of it.

Alexander stood while thinking heavily before sitting onto the couch. He murmurs a thanks before flipping onto his phone.

Alex POV

"Daddy... why's Sophia crying?" Maya whispered into my ear. She had one hand on my cheek and the other behind my ear as she pulled me against her mouth while she whispered. I frowned before shrugging.

I didn't know why Sophia was crying. All I knew is that she was staring at her phone while tears streamed down her face. She heaved in for a moment before returning to normal with her tears. Maya let go of me while looking worried. She crawled into my lap while we observed the crying pregnant female on the couch across from us.

Maya picked up my hand, toying around my finger with hers before speaking.

"Sophia, are you okay?" Maya's small voice let out as Sophia looked towards us.

"My brother, Quincy, is getting married!" She said, a sob breaking her speech. She had a bright smile on her face as stared down at her phone.

I let out a loud breath, glad it wasn't anything bad. "It's in California so id have to fly back." She added, a whine to her voice.

She burst into sobs again which resulted in Maya quietly excusing herself to her room — leaving me to deal with Sophia. Her stomach was huge for her to only be four months but i guess what's what happens when it's your first time.  I guess since this is Sophia first pregnancy (I hope.. I really don't want to share) her body is still adjusting to having a small body in her body. If she was to get pregnant again, her stomach definitely wouldnt be as big, it would be big but not... huge, like it is now.

"I'm just so happy for him! He never really found someone he truly liked growing up," she cried out, "Quincy! I'm so proud of you! You're getting married." 

"That's good for him," I said, not knowing whether to give her a comforting hug or what. I decided to, moving towards her. She reached up as a baby and pulled me into her arms. She sobbed into my stomach before pushing me away."Oh my God! I'm pregnant! I'm going to be huge! The wedding is before I'm due! My mom is gonna kill me!" She sobbed even harder, making my skin hot.

She hadn't told her mom? I didn't tell mine either but that's only because I know how she'll act. I have no idea to how Sophia mother will react. Hopefully, she isn't one of those you-had-a-baby-out-of-wedlock-now-I'm-going-to-disown-you! type of mother. This wasn't Sophia's fault. 

It was mine. 

I just had to have her. Now, I really do have her... in a way. 

She will forever in a way be mine. Since she is having my child, until she dies — God, forbid that be any time soon — we will always share a child together. She will always own a literal piece of me because of that. No matter what girl comes next, she won't be as important as Sophia. Hopefully, I have no more children with other women so anybody that comes after Sophia will not be as important as she is. Even if Sophia and I never speak to each other again after she has the child and she has Crissy or someone to come drop it off on my days, she will always have the upper hand against any women I am with. She's the mother of my child. If she ever needs anything, anything at all, all she has to do is give me a call and I will have it at her doorstep. No other women could compare to somebody that has carried my kids.I'm glad Sophia is that person and not some wretched women that want to take my money or that never truly cares about me and just wants to trap me with a baby.

"It'll be fine. Do you want something to eat?" I offered, hoping it'd take her mind off her stomach. A smile shined through the tears and she vigorously nodded her head before clicking off her phone and beginning to stand up. I steadied her as I shook my head. Is this the hormones I'll have to deal with for the next couple months? I'm sure I'll make deal but I want a better warning than this sneak peek.

"Alex, you have like no food." Sophia rang from the kitchen.

"I just went shopping Saturday!" I whined, to myself mostly but I knew Sophia heard me by the way she peaked her head around the corner. "You know today is Saturday, right? We can go right now! I was supposed to go shopping today anyways." She offered, her head still peaking around the corner. I mentally groaned before nodding. She gave me a bright smile before coming from behind the wall.

 "I'll get Maya!" She said. Great.

Twenty five minutes later, Sophia was pushing Maya in a Whole Foods cart as we walked in. Maya sat, playing in her phone but looking up every couple seconds as if she was trying to make sure we were still here. Sophia had a content expression on her face as she pushed the cart. I gazed around, seeing the fruit section right in front of us. I gather some basic fruit like apples and bananas before asking my girls what they want. "Daddy! Remember the last time you said that I could try that fruit? The star one and it's green!" 

"What star fruit?" I asked. 

No, I didn't remember at all what she was talking about. "Right there! Look. The first one." She said, pointing to a cooler section that contained the star fruit. They were slightly green around the edges but for the most part, yellow. I grabbed a bag and put some in. I weighed them before putting them in the basket and grabbing some pineapples. I put them all in the shopping cart before realizing Sophia was gone.

"Where'd Sophia go?"

"Yogurt." Was all Maya said, reaching behind her to try and grab the star fruit. Hopefully, this grocery trip is over soon.